Cheryl Osborn already defied stereotypes as a female entrepreneur in the male-dominated world of commercial real estate.
Then she defied the recession, guiding Casco Contractors Inc. through one of the roughest real estate downturns in modern history.
Casco, an Irvine-based general contractor that specializes in commercial tenant improvement, has grown to become one of the largest companies in its field in less than 15 years.
Rankings
The company, started at Osborn’s kitchen table in 2000, ranks as Orange County’s eighth largest tenant improvement contractor, with $38 million in revenue last year, according to Business Journal data.
Three of the top 20 tenant improvement contractors in OC are headed by women, and Osborn, Casco’s founder and president, runs the largest of the trio.
Casco also ranked as OC’s 22nd largest female-owned business by revenue last year.
Osborn was one of five winners honored at the Business Journal’s 20th annual Women in Business Awards luncheon on June 17 at the Hotel Irvine (see related stories, pages 1, 5, 6 and 8).
The company has become a go-to builder for some of the most prominent architectural firms, property management companies, and landlords in the state. Its customers include Irvine Co., CBRE Group Inc., Cushman & Wakefield Inc., Greenlaw Partners, and the University of California-Irvine.
Casco’s revenue is up 15% over a year ago and nearly 33% above 2007 and 2008, when the commercial tenant improvement industry began to feel the effects of the real estate downturn.
The amount of Casco’s work has also increased. The firm worked on more than 2.3 million square feet of projects last year, up about 17% year-over-year.
Recent projects the company’s worked on include space for Opus Bank, Southern California Edison and Accurate Background Inc.
Office properties make up the bulk of its projects, but Casco also does work on restaurants and retail properties. It’s worked on day spas in Lake Forest and a pet grooming store in Huntington Beach.
More growth is expected through its newly launched property management division, which provides services to commercial property management teams across Southern California.
A focus on quality and service is responsible for much of Casco’s growth, according to the company. Among its unique selling points is a “zero-punch” program that has the company aiming to turn over projects without defects or in an incomplete state, a rarity for the contracting industry.
Also key: finding and keeping the right people, particularly for management positions.
Growth, Long Hours
A few years after Casco began, the company was earning close to $20 million annually but had a staff of only about 15 people.
Osborn worked every day for hours on end.
“I almost had a nervous breakdown,” she told Inc. Magazine last year.
“I was doing all my work at home because I knew once I hit the office, I wouldn’t get anything done,” Osborn said. Employees “needed constant direction, and I realized that direction needed to come from someone other than me.”
The company now employs 45 people and said it has had minimal turnover. In-house training programs and outside courses are used to grow its talent pool from within.
Osborn has degrees in construction management and interior architectural design from the California State University-Long Beach College of Engineering.
She started her career at midsized construction and architecture companies working on big projects before getting into commercial tenant improvement.
